Monotony

Circumstances and laziness determined that I run on the treadmill today, which was kind of a bummer considering this was my 'long run'. The gym was more packed than usual - even for a Saturday morning, but I managed to find a treadmill available after only a few minutes.

I've had some working hypotheses about what might help the calf tightness I've been battling lately. Part of my theory was that I have not been keeping myself hydrated enough and that I've been imbibing more caffeine than is typical for me. So in the last couple of days I've tried scaling back a bit on the caffeine and increasing my water intake. I also allowed myself to run slower than I would ideally like - especially for the first two miles. I don't know whether any of these little tricks truly helped, or whether it was sheer coincidence, but my calves felt pretty good today. I had some shin-splinty feeling in my right leg for a while, but eventually that went away.

While I don't really think this is true, my body felt like it had not been subjected to a long run in a while. I found it hard to keep going - especially after the fourth mile. I think the monotony of the treadmill and the fact that it was really hot in the gym added to my unhappiness. I got off the treadmill at five miles and cooled down a bit, refilled my water bottle, and found a different treadmill that didn't have people flanking each side (hopefully to allow for a little more air). I did the remainder of my run there and felt pretty good. Soon after I hit eight miles, I was done... not so much physically, but mentally, I couldn't take the hamster wheel anymore. I also need to update my iPod. But the bright side for me was that my body felt good.

8.15 in 71:10